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and 2007, which came about as a result of divisions within national politics. Theviolence spread from Dili to the rural areas, and some local leaders were alsoinstigators of this party political violence that on the surface appeared to be defendingthe position of national elites (Engel, 2007: 9). The translation of national politicaldivisions into local violence was also confirmed during my fieldwork in Venilale,where some individuals who continued to hold local leadership positions were allegedby community members to be instigators of the political violence that had erupted in2007.As a result of this recent violence, party politics was clearly a very contentious issuein Venilale—much more so than was expressed in Ainaro. While local leaders oftendefended their right to engage in party politics, it was frequently argued by Venilalecommunity members that party politics had no place at suku level governance. As anelder and former xefe suku in Fatulia argued, local leaders' affiliation with politicalparties undermined the inherently democratic nature of community elections, whereeveryone knew the candidates and could make their choices based on theirdemonstrated ability as local leaders. As he put it:Now I compare with when I was xefe suku before 1997... [In 2004] in order to choosethe local leadership we used the symbols of the political parties [on the ballot papers].To use the flags, and to use the political parties is not good, in a democracy weshould not do this. In a democracy the symbols of the political parties are used for thepresidential and parliamentary elections, that is okay. But to do elections for the xefesuku and for the community authorities we should not use the symbols of the politicalparties.The ways in which political party flags and symbols influenced voter choices,particularly among those who are illiterate and who have no real access to informationon the different policy platforms reflected by various political parties was also notedby Hohe (2002b) during the national elections. As the ex- xefe suku quoted abovewent on to argue, it is more legitimate if community leaders work their way upthrough the local leadership hierarchy, through family structures, as they gain inexperience and win the trust of the community. This has been undermined with theintroduction of political parties, where community authority is no longer based solely135
on the leaders' position within the community, the importance of traditionalinstitutional structures and family groups are undermined, and lines of authority andaccountability are moved away from the family groups as a source of communalcohesion.As stated earlier, the experience of party politics and party political violence was animportant difference between the two case study sites. In Ainaro it was not raised as asignificant issue whereas in Venilale party politics was experienced as a more overtlyintimidating affair. However, in both subdistricts there were similar explanationsgiven around the experience of political parties. In both places, interviewees statedthat they had no real understanding of different political platforms, that there wasinsufficient information given by the political parties to those living in the rural areas,and that as a result affiliation to political parties tended to be based on loyalty to theparty flag or for other reasons unrelated to policy platforms.In both subdistricts there were also similar explanations given for the incidence ofpolitical violence—that is, the impact that political party affiliation had on familygroups. In Ainaro it was argued that family groups, bound together via uma lulik andforming the basis for traditional understandings of community, were sufficientlystrong to withstand the divisive impact of party politics. As one community memberin Ainaro put it, his ancestors had placed a prohibition on political violence and thiswas still respected: while individual family members might belong to differentpolitical parties, "they still come together every evening to eat together and drinktogether." By contrast, in Venilale it was frequently argued that the party politics thathad begun with the civil war in 1975 had torn families and communities apart, andthat these fissures were reopened each time a new issue emerged. As the parish priestexplained, "in 1975 violence came here because of the fighting between differentpolitical parties, which created more violence, and many people are traumatisedbecause of this violence. So they imitate the violence, this is the effect of whathappened in the past." As he went on to explain, local leaders who stand to gain frompolitical violence then exploit existing divisions for their own gain: "these leaders,they are very intelligent, they are very knowledgeable, and they make use of thesimple people who have not had education... these young people are beingmanipulated and misused, as an instrument of violence." The issues of divisions136
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Local Governance in Timor-Leste:The
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COPYRIGHT STATEMENT‘I hereby gran
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are some important points of tensio
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the Canossian sisters in Ainaro—M
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2.6 The Issues of Cross-Cultural Re
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LIST OF FIGURESFigure One: The Deve
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Tara banduUma kainUma lulikXefe Ald
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within, I had failed to recognise t
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anthropology of development (Shephe
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prefer the term 'local' to recognis
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evolve around ideas of traditional
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institution that is considered to b
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the case given the emphasis on cond
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Within these increasingly murky pol
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1.3 Case Study SitesVenilaleVenilal
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The reasons for choosing Venilale a
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and influences can have on the loca
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played out since decolonisation. Th
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geographically 'outwards' from uma
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CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWO
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2.1 FieldworkFieldwork was conducte
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marked differences in people's idea
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interactions between modern and tra
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then asking for advice on who else
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answer specific questions about how
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Every conversation and every experi
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discussions. This took a little tim
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crucial to the research question—
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CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUALISING POST
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epresentation through democratisati
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of coordination between these diffe
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equally problematic, as this succes
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government, and Huntington noted th
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Westernise. Equally, the specificit
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which individuals both shape and ar
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expanded this understanding to incl
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within a society. As Remmer puts it
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is to distribute power to some and
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To explain this point, he makes the
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provided by public policy" (Fukuyam
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Gramsci's account of hegemonic powe
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From this perspective, Gramsci's id
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outcomes. Rather, it structures soc
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'shadow side' of the everyday polit
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The centrality of these kin-based g
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4.1 Formation of Political Hybridit
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While the rule of the liurai was in
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to be rejoined. But as local politi
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Page 99 and 100: did not make life any easier for th
Page 101 and 102: governor, but slowly seats were inc
Page 103 and 104: The movement towards decolonisation
Page 105 and 106: As the politics reached gradually b
Page 107 and 108: appointed traditionally (Ospina and
Page 109 and 110: esistance to Indonesian rule (Gunn
Page 111 and 112: outrage across the world. Following
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Page 117 and 118: for a Constituent Assembly (CA) and
Page 119 and 120: these other factors reveal a more c
Page 121 and 122: SECTION TWO: EXAMINING LOCAL GOVERN
Page 123 and 124: hold spiritual and ritual responsib
Page 125 and 126: Important exchange relationships th
Page 127 and 128: spiritual significance of the ances
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Page 131 and 132: The centrality of the liurai house
Page 133 and 134: As discussed previously, one of the
Page 135 and 136: order to meet their communal requir
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Page 139 and 140: within the suku and to lead the kon
Page 141 and 142: epresentative. These political mech
Page 143 and 144: structural issue: while the old ins
Page 145 and 146: democratisation has been seen to er
Page 147: Party politics has been one such po
Page 151 and 152: Within this hybrid political enviro
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Page 155 and 156: authority figures in the aldeia, su
Page 157 and 158: As fieldwork progressed, it became
Page 159 and 160: kain), it is taken to the xefe and/
Page 161 and 162: process, they have the right to go
Page 163 and 164: (March, 2008). In the absence of le
Page 165 and 166: explains, he will not engage with a
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Page 169 and 170: insufficient attention being paid t
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Page 177 and 178: xefe suku explained that the cost o
Page 179 and 180: that there is a combination of soci
Page 181 and 182: SECTION THREE: SHAPING LOCAL GOVERN
Page 183 and 184: automatically become part of the lo
Page 185 and 186: ecent Shadow Report to CEDAW, which
Page 187 and 188: Governance must be for something, a
Page 189 and 190: power within Timorese communities.
Page 191 and 192: Such structural constraints, howeve
Page 193 and 194: Across every suku in Venilale and A
Page 195 and 196: was built for their most remote ald
Page 197 and 198: While community members may attempt
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networks that use such animistic ri
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strongman, who operated in Venilale
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the community are captured or diver
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strongman specifically uses institu
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CHAPTER EIGHT: BRINGING IT BACK TO
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communities have created various fo
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However, while incoming resources c
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of fundamental importance in consid
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APPENDIX A: LIST OF INTERVIEWEESVEN
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APPENDIX B: MAP OF TIMOR-LESTESourc
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APPENDIX D: POLITICAL MAP OF SUBDIS
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BINNS, T. (2006) 'Doing Fieldwork i
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CHESTERMAN, S. (2002) 'East Timor i
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DEGNBOL-MARTINUSSEN, J. (2002) 'Dev
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Lincoln, Y. (Eds.) The Landscape of
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GRENFELL, L. (2006) 'Legal Pluralis
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HOWARTH, D. (2000) Discourse, Bucki
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LANDMAN, T. & HAUSERMANN, J. (2003)
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MERRY, S. E. (1988) 'Legal Pluralis
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OSPINA, S. & HOHE, T. (2001) Tradit
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RUDOLPH, L. I. (1965) 'The Modernit
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THAKUR, R. & VAN LANGENHOVE, L. (20
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WORK, R. (2002) 'Overview of Decent
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